Cronyism Exposed Again

A MUST READ: Find out what and why you need to know about these players and their role in this whole convoluted ASF China / Tom Tate saga ... seems being a friend of Mr Tate is indeed becoming a lucrative career choice. Please take a few minutes to read up and comment.

A Gold Coast PR, communications and lobbying firm based in Bundall (est 2005) has just listed ASF as their client (http://ow.ly/D8MFy) on the required lobbyist registrar - no surprises really given that ASF are sinking faster than a brick in air in terms of their diminishing level of appeal to both the community and a section of our councillors and government. The firm, named SHAC Communications (Which is a loose reference to the names Simone Holzapfel and Astra Ciobo) is co-owned and operated by one of Tom Tate's good friends and confidants from the last few years - his former election campaign boss and strategist, who later shot into the public position with Gold Coast City Council as the mayor's own personal media advisor and the subsequent role of 'Special Projects Advisor', despite loud calls from across the city's commentators, media and community denouncing her appointment as cronyism (backdoor job preferences and allocations for friends and mates).

Simone Holzapfel (no longer working for council) has now reportedly positioned her firm to be in the employ of the ASF China Consortium (ASF Group), with the registrar reporting that be the case from September 23rd this year - with fledgling local project director Tim Poole reporting today that she is working more specifically on the 'community and stakeholder consultation' component of their flailing proposal bid.

On the SHAC Communications website it reads, "In her capacity as Special Projects Adviser for the City of Gold Coast in 2013, Simone brought the political and operational wings of Council together to deliver a new City Brand in under nine months and was a critical part of the team that secured the Broadwater Marine Project for the city as a partnership with the State."

Yes, you read that right, the infamous and loathed red dot fiasco and associated costs, along with being a critical part of the council's 'team' that created this whole broadwater mess. Simone Holzapfel, the former Tom Tate campaign manager, former council advisor, former Tom Tate media advisor is now working in the spin department for ASF. No doubt her inside knowledge and relationships with council officers and the mayor will be helping with the internal communications there - our councillors must be swimming in open communication and updates from ASF! But oddly they are being kept in complete deaf and blind darkness on all levels by the ASF China Consortium, every single day. Never forget, our councillors voted in the majority to continue on with this convoluted and highly suspicious process, ignored the fact that Tom Tate likely had no mandate and all of the risks, just to 'see what's in the box', but if they knew it would be like this, it would be likely they would have voted it down. Hindsight, always a few seconds too late.

But this plot gets a little thicker yet, and before we go further we have to go back. Simone comes from an intense background of political lobbying and media work, being the former communication and political strategy advisor for Tony Abbott back when he was a minister under the Howard Government. Shortly after (or before depending on which news report you read) her time under Abbott, Mr Abbott was then appointed as Federal Health Minister. Simone then spearheaded an intense media and lobbying campaign to involve churches in influencing the government's senate vote on a private members' bill in the senate, based around her campaign's views about a controversial abortion drug - but whose campaign was it? Whose views were she actually representing from across the street? Simone was perhaps remembered most for this strong involvement in the anti-abortion campaign, where she was the executive director of the group Australians Against RU486. Their campaign was a failure though, and her group unsuccessful in lobbying to retain federal ministerial controls over the controversial abortion pill. Mr Abbott at the time opted to not comment on Simone's involvement and activities, and the suggestion that she was in fact still doing his bidding outside of her official role. When asked by SMH at the time about who was funding her group and campaign, she told them she was in no position to name its anonymous financial backers.

According to The Australian, "Simone Holzapfel, the media adviser to the Liberals' Gold Coast mayoral candidate Tom Tate, headed Australians Against RU486, which unsuccessfully lobbied to retain federal ministerial controls over the controversial abortion pill. Ms Holzapfel worked as a media adviser to then health minister Tony Abbott, the leading Howard government proponent of ministerial controls." The Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time,"A FORMER media adviser to Tony Abbott, before he became the Health Minister, has been appointed executive director of a campaign to mobilise churches and anti-abortion groups against RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug condemned by the Pope."

Perhaps even more alarming is her relationship to the players behind the push to get Tom Tate into power. This article in The Australian headlined as "Hard Right driving Lib poll push" reckons, "An anti-abortion activist with property developer ties and a businessman who has been investigated by federal authorities have emerged as key players in the Liberal Party's $1 million push to win Saturday's Gold Coast City Council elections ... Mr Stear and Ms Holzapfel are aligned with the hard-Right faction of the Queensland Liberals, led by former ministers Santo Santoro and Warwick Parer, which has masterminded the Gold Coast City Council push. Another player in the faction is federal Gold Coast Liberal MP Steve Ciobo, whose wife, Astra Ciobo, founded Ms Holzapfel's shac consultancy with her." - read the article here http://ow.ly/D8IMf

Federal Member for Moncrieff

So we get to Ciobo. Yes Steven Ciobo, the long standing Gold Coast federal LNP MP who was an outspoken and vocal opponent of the previous Labor push for a broadwater cruise terminal, but has conversely been a public supporter of the LNP mayor Tom Tate's proposal, and now has a link to Simone's firm being with ASF. Steven's wife Astra Ciobo co-founded the SHAC Communications company, that is now reportedly charged with working to lobby, promote and engage the community in order to contribute to success to the ASF China's proposal. Mr Ciobo you might recall accompanied Mayor Tom Tate for a portion of one of his so-called 'fact finding missions' to ... wait for it ... Las Vegas, in 2012.

Steven Ciobo's electorate Moncrieff includes a 7 hectare parcel of land between Seaworld and Versace that ASF China have included in their IRD proposal.

According to the then Gold Coast Bulletin reporter (also personal friend of Mr Tate's) who accompanied Mr Tate on his 'mission', Shannon Willoughby, "Cr Tate and Mr Ciobo met with Las Vegas Mayor Carlolyn Goodman," whilst in Vegas, "to learn about the city's downtown urban renewal ventures." - Mr Ciobo also appeared to be lobbying for more casinos on the Gold Coast at the time, telling Ms Willoughby, "we do need a second casino," - In 2011 he told the Gold Coast Bulletin, "Our problem is we are directionless. This city needs to be able to compete against places like Ibiza, Bali, Las Vegas and Macau," - so it seems Mr Ciobo has a penchant for the glitz and lights of large foreign resorts and casino cities, but does his wife's company's (no longer a director - since 2009) newfound position expose him, her and ASF to a massive conflict of interest problem here? Save Our Spit naturally has no position and can't pass such judgement, and we will reserve any assumptions here - perhaps you guys decide for yourselves?

My how this is working out for everyone here, but there's been an underlying theme, that being that there's little talk about what's best for the community on the Gold Coast so far, not what's best for corporations, political campaigns, personal promotion, or any discussion on what is just right over wrong ... so we continue.

Simone headed Mr Tate's campaign for mayor through late 2011 and early 2012, backed by an LNP 'warchest' that was reported to exceed a million dollars, they were able to market, drive and deliver a campaign that buried his opponents in the mud, affording Tom some 36.7% or so of the primary vote, and the position of mayor. Shortly afterwards Simone landed a plumb position in the public purse, as media advisor to the mayor Tom Tate. At the time, the controversial appointment was heavily criticised as being 'jobs for mates' and bypassing due process. The Bulletin reported that "New mayoral media adviser Simone Holzapfel and mayoral chief of staff Wayne Moran were appointed two days after advertisements for the positions closed. It is understood more than 12 people applied for the media role and more than 30 for the chief of staff role, but a council spokesman confirmed no other people were interviewed for the jobs ... The media adviser role is paid at $75,000 a year while the chief of staff role is expected to earn more than $110,000, with both positions attracting 12 per cent superannuation." - the newspaper also reported, "Mr Moran helped Mr Molhoek win the state seat of Southport and has close links to federal Liberal MP and party powerbroker Stuart Robert." - http://ow.ly/D8LM9

That's right, Tate interviewed no other applicants! What did we get out of it all? A mayoral social media campaign of censorship and denial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp790ygrgvo), a $700,000 red dot and a polarised cruise ship terminal election policy shift just hours before the polls opened. Simone wasn't the only one though, a lot of Tom's mates ended up getting some prime public roles after he won. Oh, and Ms Hopzapfel of course continued running her business and working for SHAC Communications whilst taking home her public pay packet, much to the objection and irk of some councillors and the public - http://ow.ly/D8LXg

During her time in the employ of the council, Simone was appointed 'Special Projects Advisor' where she went to work on the then Broadwater Marine Project, something the SHAC website says she was "a critical part of the team that secured the Broadwater Marine Project for the city". Simone later departed her position in Tate's office due to internal conflicts, reported as being due to "the breakdown of her professional relationship with his Chief Of Staff, Wayne Moran". She was not sacked or asked to stand down but rather moved into a newly-created position in CEO Dale Dickson's office. A former councillor was reportedly outraged saying, "The buck stops with the CEO and if there is internal conflict the CEO should not be creating new positions. These positions are normally decided at budget. The entire council creates a decision to create positions."

She later left council to continue with her firm, and is now working for ASF on their last ditch attempt to seize the broadwater.

In the end, it seems Ms Holzapfel has been switching from side to side, playing both ends of the court, public to private, private to public, mayoral to management, council to corporate, politics to religion ... and for some time now, including before Tate's election win, continuously involved in some way with the broadwater cruise ship/casino proposals, the companies and the mayor.

So what does Ms Holzapfel hope to achieve with ASF and the community here? Is she writing those woeful and misdirecting press releases and wording up their information-less fluff and nonsense that we have been reading and seeing? Has she spearheaded this latest round of subjugating and manipulating 'consultation' workshops? Who really knows, but it's something to consider. What involvement does federal MP Steven Ciobo's wife (and himself) have in all of this? How connected is Tom Tate to ASF? Is he really working for them and not for us? There are a lot of very serious questions raised by her appointment, and it just creates an even darker hole of mystery around the ASF China Consortium proposal and campaign to persuade the state government, councillors and the people to somehow support their land grab.

The factions, the circles, the LNP, the friendships, the jobs, and the lobbying ... thicker than a concrete thickshake!